The Adventure Games

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Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is a series of five video games that tie in with the first two years of the Matt Smith era on television. They are the first video games to feature the voice of the actors playing the then-current televised Doctor and companions.

They were delivered primarily by download from the main BBC Doctor Who website and were mainly intended for the personal computer platform. The earliest versions of the games ran on Windows and Macintosh operating systems, but they later became available to other platforms. Though primarily for UK customers — since the games had in part been funded by the BBC license fee — the games were eventually made available internationally.

They were discontinued after series 6.

Promotion

Details regarding the games were announced on 21 April 2010. The games were made in conjunction with the Doctor Who TV production team, with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan lending their voices and likenesses to the games. In announcing the games, series producer Piers Wenger stated called the first four part of series 5.

There aren't 13 episodes of Doctor Who this year. There are 17 - four of which are interactive. Everything you see and experience within the game is part of the Doctor Who universe.Piers Wenger[1]

Footage of the games was shown after Victory of the Daleks. It revealed one "episode" would involve the Daleks and a destroyed London in 1963 with the tagline Fight The Daleks. This was later released as City of the Daleks by Phil Ford, initially announced as being available on the 5th of June, 2010.[2]. A second series of another four episodes has been commissioned for release in 2011[3].

Availability

The first of the games, City of the Daleks, was released for download via the BBC's official Doctor Who website on 2 June 2010 for PCs - several days earlier than the originally announced release date of 5th June. It was later revealed that the early release of the game was part of a system test as they geared up for the official release date. A trailer for the game was shown after Vincent and the Doctor on Saturday to mark its official launch [4]. A Macintosh version was later released on 15th June 2010.[5]

At present, the first four games are available to international audiences from Direct2Drive, for $3.70 American. However, Direct2Drive has controversially chosen not to make the Mac OS version of the game available. As a result, some gaming sites have not reviewed the game.[6]

Robert Nashak from BBC Worldwide has said that in the future, there may be retail versions of the games.[7]

Gameplay

The Adventure Games are puzzle-based games. The player must navigate obstacles with a specific pattern to them, crack codes, use objects to bypass obstacles and navigate mazes. There is little margin for error; most hazards kill automatically and (as the Eleventh Doctor) it can be hard to escape from enemies once they've spotted you. The game follows a linear path: tasks have to be handled a certain way and in a certain sequence.

Playable characters

Playable characters in all the games are the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond and in the second series, Rory Williams. However, the player can not choose which character to play with, as this is tied to in-game story progression. The only exception is at the end of TARDIS.

Collectables

File:Gelatin.png
A Jelly Baby card.

Each episode has collectible cards, marked with a "DW", which provide extra information on the Doctor Who universe. There are fifty to collect in total, ten each of Doctors, Companions, Friends, Enemies and Jelly Babies.

Collectables

Doctors

Companion

Friends

Enemies

Jelly Babies

Cast and characters

Primary cast

Guest cast

Series 1

Series 2

Games

Series 1

Episode
Number		 Title Writer Available Notes
1 City of the Daleks Phil Ford 5th June 2010 Features the Daleks
2 Blood of the Cybermen Phil Ford 26 June 2010 Features the Cybermen
3 TARDIS James Moran 27 August 2010
4 Shadows of Vashta Nerada Phil Ford 22 December 2010 Features the Vashta Nerada

Series 2

Series 2 of the Adventure games was announced in 2010.[9][10] The first and only game in the series was The Gunpowder Plot[11] However the second series of the Adventure Games was cancelled in February 2012[12] following a muted fan reaction to The Gunpowder Plot.

Episode
Number		 Title Writer Available Notes
1 The Gunpowder Plot Phil Ford 31 October 2011 Features the Rutans, Sontarans and Silence (last-named as Easter Egg only)

Production crew

Producers

Executive producers

Writers

Notes

  • The Adventure Games prominently feature music from a previous series, unlike the majority of Series 5. Most Series 5 & 6 episodes used previously written music.
  • A short teaser for the third adventure game was released on the BBC website in the form of a short script entitled Wish You Were Here.

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100408_01/adventure_games
  2. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_100422_01/Adventure_Games_Launch_in_Sheffield
  3. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/more-doctor-who-games-next-year-9508.htm
  4. ↑ http://www.mcvuk.com/news/39261/BBC-explains-early-Doctor-Who-release
  5. ↑ http://gallifreynewsbase.blogspot.com/2010/06/city-of-daleks-now-available.html
  6. ↑ http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2010/07/d2d_selling_episodic_doctor_wh.php D2D Selling Episodic Doctor Who
  7. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/torchwood-the-game-8995.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_111003_01/The_Gunpowder_Plot_More_Stars_More%20Monsters
  9. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/more-doctor-who-games-next-year-9508.htm
  10. ↑ http://doctorwhotv.co.uk/adventure-games-series-2-update-22626.htm
  11. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110721_01/New_Adventure_Game_The_Explosive_Details
  12. ↑ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/s7/doctor-who/news/a367305/doctor-who-the-adventure-games-shelved-by-bbc.html
v • e
Doctor Who video games
PC
Console/Mobile
The Adventure Games
Series 1
Series 2
DWMI website
Doctor Who website
Pre-2005
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Post-2010
Other websites
Games listed here are only those that have been officially licensed by the BBC.
v • e
Aliens and Enemies of
the Adventure Games
City of the Daleks
Daleks (Emperor  • Drone  • Supreme  • Scientist  • Strategist  • Eternal)  • Varga plants
Blood of the Cybermen
TARDIS
Shadows of the Vashta Nerada
The Gunpowder Plot
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